I Don't Know How To March
by HPOwlLover24
Summary: Jean is extremely pumped to finally have the chance to be in the high school's marching band. He practiced all summer and he's determined for them to make it to nationals this year. But his section leader throws him off guard and, suddenly, he's saying he can't march at all. Well, there goes his determination. (Everyone is basically here!)
1. Chapter 1

Jean made his way up to the boring-looking, brick building that stood away from the high school. The sun was barely peaking over the building, as it was only seven in the morning. But, Jean felt himself wide-awake, full of nerves and excitement.

He was finally a freshman, in high school, and joining the marching band was at the top of his list. He had seen the band in action last year at the football games, and he was blown away.

Their movements were precise, everyone stepping together on time with the beat. Their horns and drums angled up and to the audience at the perfect degree. There was a perfect balance between the woodwinds and the drumline, the brass and the pit. The notes seemed to just flow forth to create a mesmerizing sound that captivated everyone.

So of course, it made sense when they got a one at their marching competition and first at area. Jean remembered the disappointment he felt when they didn't make it past state.

This year will be different, though. He wanted to help ensure that the band this year would make it to nationals this year.

Okay, so he was a little ambitious.

Jean twirled his drumsticks thoughtfully. He had practiced marching all summer with his uncle, who used to be in the drumline (a snare drum no less!) back in his day. His timing with different tempos were near perfect, his turns were also spot on, and his body was always angled towards the audience. He wouldn't be the one to cost points at competition.

He rapped his drumsticks against his leg. He had high hopes, which was stupid as a freshman and a sophomore, to be a snare this year. Jean knew he shouldn't wish for anything more than a cymbal player. Maybe he would even be so unlucky as to not even march and be in the pit.

Jean frowned. No, he was going to march this year. He _had _to march this year. He didn't want to play on the sideline, even if there was nothing wrong with being in the pit. He sighed, no snare until at least junior year…

Jean finally made it to the door and frowned. For an art elective, he expected the building to be a little more…spirited. It was the band hall after all.

Jean yanked open the door and an explosion of voices met his ears. He walked in and smiled. Now that was more like it.

The entire hall looked like a tornado of marching uniforms and sheet music hit it. There were stands and chairs scattered everywhere. And extremely large green, blue, and white banners and posters with the mascot, they were the Eagles, splattered on them. Most of them said, "Go Eagles!" But, there was the occasional "You can't cage the Eagles!" or "We have the Winning Wings!"

Jean looked over to the back of the hall and recognized a familiar baldhead. "Connie!"

The trumpet player turned around and walked up to Jean, "Hey, man, ready for camp?"

Jean clasped his hand, and they did the handshake/bro hug. Jean smiled widely, "Hell, yeah! I'm so ready for the season to start already."

"How can you be thinking about marching? I'm already ready for lunch!"

Jean turned around and saw his other friend, the sax player, Sasha.

Jean rolled his eyes, "Hey, Sasha. Didn't you just eat breakfast?"

She gave him a blank look. "So?"

"Freshman!"

About thirty or so heads turned around to see a short man standing on a chair with a bored expression on his face.

He nodded, "Now that I have you little sh-"

"Levi," a tone said warningly.

The short guy, Levi, sighed. "Now that I have your attention, introductions should be made. I am Levi, and I am the assistant drum major this year." He pointed to a tall blonde talking to an old bald man with a large mustache, "That's Erwin. He's the head drum major."

Levi looked over everyone and sighed again. "Not much this year, huh?"

"Come on, Levi. Be a little more heart warming!"

A girl with glasses and her brown hair pulled up pushed Levi off the chair and jumped on. "Hey everyone!" she called out, waving enthusiastically. "I am Hanji, president of the band. I hope you're ready to have a good time this year."

Levi grunted.

Hanji ignored him. "We're going to split you up with your section leaders in a bit. They will be your go-to man for the rest of the year." She looked at her list. "So let me introduce them really quick.

"Petra over here," she pointed to a small girl with a wide smile on her face, "Is the flute's section leader.

"Auruo," a guy standing beside Petra with a smirk, similar to Levi's, on his face, "Is the clarinet's leader.

"Gunther," another tall guy with a slight frown set on his lips, "Is the sax leader.

"I am the trumpet's section leader," Hanji smiled widely, and Jean suddenly felt bad for Connie.

She pointed to a dude with slightly narrowed eyes and blonde hair, "This is Mike and he's with the trombones.

"Ness over there," a guy standing off to the side with a white bandana covering his head, "Will lead the French horns.

"Hannes," a tall blonde, who nodded his head in acknowledgement, "will be in charge of the baritones."

Jean started bouncing on the balls of his feet. He was becoming anxious. Percussion was always announced last, but why the hell was Hanji talking so damn slow?

"Kitts," Hanji prattled on, waving offhandedly to a nervous-looking guy in the back, "Will lead the tubas.

"Rico," Jean perked up. Drumline? A small girl with a bored expression jerked her head. "Will be in charge of the entire pit."

Jean sighed. This is it, his section leader. The asshole that he'll have to put up with all year…

"And finally, Marco, is in charge of drumline."

…is really fucking cute.

Jean felt his breath catch at the sight of the freckled boy waving to the group of freshman with a smile spread across his face. He had black hair, which parted in the middle, and wore a simple green t-shirt and black basketball shorts. From what Jean could see, the dude had freckles _everywhere._

Jean felt something jab sharply against his ribs, "Shit!"

The entire band turned to look at him. Jean ducked his head quickly, face burning red from embarrassment. He turned his head and looked over to see Connie and Sasha trying to muffle their laughter. "What the hell man?" Jean whispered fiercely.

Connie looked at him, "You were staring off into space and your face was turning red. I wanted to make sure you were breathing."

"Alright! Meet up with your section leaders now!"

Jean grunted, "I'll see you assholes later." Jean walked over to Marco, his legs becoming weak. _Come on Jean. You don't even know Marco yet._

Jean stood next to a smaller, black-haired boy with wide green eyes. Marco smiled at the two of them, "Looks like you're all that we have this year. That's great, we already have a full drumline."

The green-eyed boy frowned, "What?"

Marco looked at him. "What, what? Who are you?" somehow, coming from Marco, the question sounded kind.

"I'm Eren," green eyes answered, "Aren't you a sophomore?"

Jean felt his eyes widen. A sophomore? No way…

Marco laughed, a light sound that sent butterflies crashing around in Jean's stomach. "Yeah, I am. I play the snare."

"That's amazing!" Jean couldn't stop himself. A sophomore and he was already section leader and a snare player?

Marco rubbed the back of his neck, and Jean noticed his freckled cheeks turn red, "Yeah, I know it's a little weird, but Pixis said I deserved it so…"

Marco shook his head and gave Jean a smile. "And you are…?"

Jean mentally slapped himself. Dumbass. "I'm Jean."

"Jean. Well, welcome, you two, to the drumline. I'm sorry to say that you'll be playing cymbals for the season, or at least until you can march properly." Marco looked at both of them for a bit, "Can either one of you march?"

Eren shook his head, "I was on a cast all summer. Couldn't practice even if I wanted to."

Marco nodded thoughtfully. His brown eyes landed on Jean. "And you, Jean?"

Jean felt his throat tighten. "I don't know how to march," he blurted, before he could stop himself.

What the actual fuck? He shouldn't have said that! He should have played it cool, showed off his great marching skills to Marco.

Marco smiled softly at him. He looked over his shoulder, "Hey Reiner! Come here!"

A tall, buff looking blonde walked over to them, grinning, "What do ya need, Marco?"

"Reiner here is one of the best marchers in the drumline. He's plays bass drum," he explained to Jean and Eren. Both of them only nodded.

Marco smiled and looked back to Reiner, "I need you to teach Eren, here, how to march." Marco pulled Eren towards Reiner. His green eyes were wide. Jean didn't blame him. Reiner looked like he could lift six bass drums.

Reiner smiled and threw his arm around Eren's shoulders, playfully, "You got it chief."

Marco nodded and allowed Reiner to talk to Eren. Jean was shifting his weight from one foot to the other, avoiding the Marco's soft brown eyes. Great, first day of summer camp and he had already made a fool of himself. He'll probably be forced with someone who was scarier than Reiner.

"Jean."

Jean looked up at Marco. Marco shot him a wide smile, "Don't worry; Reiner's one of the best. But, he isn't _the_ best. I'll be teaching you how to march."

Jean nodded, holding back the sudden onslaught of excitement he was feeling. Holy shit! Maybe this won't be so bad after all.

"Alright band!" Jean turned and saw the tall blonde, Erwin, by the band hall's doors. "Let's teach the freshman how to line up properly. We'll be handing out sets once we get to the practice field."

Marco nudged Jean's shoulder with his own, and Jean suddenly noticed Marco was half a head taller than him. "Let's go, you'll be lining up behind me for a while."

Jean nodded and they joined the entire band outside.

* * *

So this was something submitted to thisismouseface by jeanhorschtein on tumblr! (Great blogs if you ask me!) I love love love this au idea because I was in marching band in high school and I know how it can get and how the relationships can bloom within a band. Brings back good memories...

So this will be an ongoing story. I know I shouldn't be trying to do so many stories at once (Flying, Dreams and Nightmares, Something Out of a Book and now this one) but I think I can manage if I only manage my time. Besides...each one has a different tone set to it and I actually noticed that I write each story according to my mood. So...yeah.

So, I'm going to get my other story up...which is already three chapters deep. Yup. Leave a comment or favorite. Thanks you lovely people!

Happy reading!


	2. Summer Heat

BEEP. Beep. Beep. Beep. BEEP.

Jean frowned as he stepped with each _beep_ evenly. The worn out packet of paper had long ago crumbled in his tight grip. His arms stretched out in front of him were aching from the time he's had them in the air for so long. Sweat was collecting on his upper lip and dripped from his forehead into his eyes, but he refrained from wiping it away. He didn't want to have to start marching the sets over again.

The sun was beating down on the entire band. Everyone was soaked in their own sweat and grimacing towards Erwin and Levi, who were conducting with the metronome. The sound of nearly one hundred feet stepping down with each beep could be heard against the practice field dirt. Jean's shins were aching from rolling his feet for the past three straight hours over the uneven field.

Everyone came to a halt at once with their papers still held up in front of them.

Erwin glanced at Phixis and lowered his arms. Levi followed suit. "At ease."

A collective sigh from the entire band was heard. Along with several thumps as freshman, including Jean, fell to the ground.

Eren was lying on his face beside Jean. "That was the hardest thing I've ever done."

Jean grunted in agreement. He had never gone that long, in the heat, without water, while marching.

"It gets easier, don't worry."

Jean looked up, shielding his eyes from the bright sun. Marco stood there, along with Reiner, each of them holding a couple of water bottles.

Reiner helped Eren up and Marco knelt in front of Jean, passing him a bottle. Jean drank hungrily, gulping the entire bottle in one go. Marco chuckled and handed Jean what was left of his water. Jean downed that also. "It's not good to drink all that water at once, you know," Marco said.

Groaning in response, his thirst satiated, Jean fell back on the ground, grimacing at the sky.

Without saying anything, Marco grabbed one of Jean's legs and ran the heel of his hand against Jean's shin.

Jean smiled slightly at the immediate relief he was feeling. Then his eyes widened and he squeaked in surprise. "What are you doing?" he asked, sitting up quickly.

Marco only smiled and jerked his head in the direction behind him. Jean looked around and noticed every freshman was on the ground with their legs in upperclassman's hands. Jean grunted, feeling a bit put out, "Okay, well, why are you guys doing this?"

Marco laughed, "This is what all upperclassman do. It's hard trying to get used to marching, and when we have a long practice for the first time, the freshman are always the ones who feel it the worse. It happens to everyone." Marco went back to rubbing Jean's leg and Jean tried not to feel embarrassed about it. "You all will get used to it soon enough, but right now we're all here to show you the ropes."

Jean nodded. He leaned back on his elbows and watched Marco. _Show us the ropes, eh? I wonder if I can get him to talk..._

"So, uh, Marco," Jean cleared his throat as Marco looked at him with large brown eyes. Yeah, there's no way he would lie. "I've heard about some things that happen to freshman when they first get into band..."

Marco's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Jean shot him a grin, "You know exactly what I mean. The freshman pranks." It was funny how upperclassman will always feign ignorance. Jean mentally scoffed, hell, he would too. The chance to scare some freshman is always fun.

Marco looked around, and Jean did too. There was no one around them, the closest to them were Reiner and Eren, but they were a good three feet away. Reiner was laughing and Eren was looking mildly (to put it lightly) uncomfortable. Jean looked back at Marco, his grin still on his face. Marco sighed. He grabbed Jean's left leg, after gently putting down his right one, and began rubbing again. "Alright, well, we aren't supposed to tell you about them, but there are a few that I can mention to you now."

Jean rose an eyebrow, "A few? What about the others then?"

There was a faint blush on Marco's cheeks, dusting over his freckles. _Cute..._

"The rest I can tell you when we have our one-on-one individual practices. I shouldn't even tell you, Jean. It ruins all the fun..."

Marco looked up at him and Jean gave him one of his rare smiles. "I know, so thanks. I don't like being made fun, hell I'm pretty sure no one does. But, er." Jean was suddenly nervous. Was he seriously laying himself out for Marco to see? He hardly knew his section leader.

Marco smiled lightly, "But?"

Jean coughed, attempting to hide his embarrassment. "I have a, um, bad temper. It flares up really quick."

Marco gave Jean a wide smile and laughed. The sound was light and carefree. It made Jean grin a little in response. "I doubt that Jean. You don't seem like that kind of guy."

To hear Marco say that made Jean's chest swell for some reason. With what, he didn't have time to think about, because a whistle sounded across the field. Jean looked up and noticed that Erwin and Levi were climbing their podiums again. Jean looked back at Marco, who was standing above him, extending his hand out. "Come on Jean, another hour and then it's lunch."

Jean grimaced at the thought of another hour of marching, but accepted Marco's hand nonetheless.

* * *

Band camp isn't as easy as people say it is. Even if it was often made fun of.

Their piece wasn't all that difficult, all things considered. It was pretty easy to get down the music, even though there were three pieces to memorize. No, what was going to kill Jean would be the marching. The marching was long, hard, and, sometimes, tedious and it's a lot more than just walking around a field of grass. The sets were hard to get down alone, not to mention with over one hundred others marching along with him. When he had to hold, his spot had to be precise. His body angle had to be perfect, even if he was only a cymbal player this season. Being on step with over a hundred others wasn't easy either. And, god damn it, curse whoever came up with rolling the feet, his shins were killing him! (Even with Marco rubbing them every other day. Hey! All the other upperclassman were doing it, too!)

Jean, along with the other freshman, did get used to the long days of marching. Phixis insisted for long practices because it would allow the band perfect endurance for an eight minute show. The upperclassman, of course, were a lot of help. They often jumped in to save a dehydrated freshman.

After marching from dawn to noon, the band hall would be ready for the band with food, glorious heaps of it, all of it made by loving band parents. Lunch was probably the best part of the day because of the one hour break everyone got, and, of course, the fun the band had together. Even though everyone was always exhausted from marching all morning, that one hour was always filled with pranks and games. Jean could always count on some comedy from the trumpets. And, when requested, the drumline would perform a cadence or two, and the dancing began.

The band was a little over a hundred people, but Jean already found himself knowing almost everyone's names. He also noticed that, despite the scarce amount of time sections had with each other, everyone were really great friends with each other. Jean had never seen such a close knit group of people.

After lunch, mass band rehearsal was held inside the band hall for two hours. This was lead by Phixis, the band director, with the help of Erwin and Levi. It was during this time that the band practiced stand music and memorized their show music. Phixis, who refused to be called mister or sir, was a great band director. He held a good control over the entire band and knew when to joke and when to be serious.

Then of course there were sectionals. This wasn't as difficult as it could have been for Jean. Although, it also could have been easier. The people who usually play the cymbals are only assigned to be in pit for marching season. Jean and Eren were only in the show because they lucked out. Phixis wanted cymbals in the show this year to give it more and possibly help them advance to state again.

Anyways, this was when they not only practiced the show, but specific pieces in their stand music. And, of course, cadences! That was definitely the best part of drumline, at least that's what Jean thought. But, this was also when they had to bust their asses the hardest. The people in drumline had to memorize just about every piece of music they had. This made it easier for them to play their instruments, where as everyone else could place their music on their arm or instrument so that they could read their music and play.

Sectionals gave Jean the chance to get to know his section almost more than he actually cared for, except for Marco that is. The other freshman, Eren, was definitely something else. Just thinking about him made Jean frown and grind his teeth in frustration. The rest of his section was alright though. The base drum players were definitely people you wanted to avoid, they just had an odd sense of humor and a weird vibe always surrounded them. The quads guys were alright, nothing special to report. And the other two snares were mediocre people. Nothing exciting. But, to be honest, Jean was happy with his section.

_It could be worse,_ he always told himself. _I could be a trumpet player._

Now that section, man, they were on another planet sometimes.

What Jean really looked forward to were the one-on-ones he had with Marco. Somewhere amidst the marching and heat, Jean had developed a crush on his section leader. But in his defense, who wouldn't? Marco was an awesome dude. He was really sweet and funny, not to mention he and Jean had a lot in common, besides the age difference that is. And Marco had definitely showed him the ropes, and told him about the pranks even though he shouldn't have.

"But why would you tell us that our plume is on backwards? I thought there was no front or back!" Jean had exclaimed to Marco while Marco was straightening his form.

Marco walked back into Jean's view and chuckled. Marco tapped his foot against Jean's, and Jean placed his feet side by side. "Of course there's no front or back, it's just a prank for upperclassman to play on harmless freshman who are already nervous enough as it is. Oh, and if anyone ever tells you to wash it, don't. You really don't want your plume to get wet. Trust me."

Jean frowned, but stayed still as Marco kept looking over his form. Having Marco that close and studying him like that, made Jean...

"Well, okay, but why do it then? Did you fall for it? Why don't you want it to get wet?" Jean fired questions off to quell his nerves. What was wrong with him? It's just a damn crush, and it's just Marco!

Behind him, Jean heard Marco laugh. Marco placed a hand on Jean's shoulder and Jean dropped them. "Because it smells incredibly rotten after. And of course I fell for it! How was I supposed to know otherwise?" Marco came back into Jean's sight and nodded. Jean immediately relaxed. "I'm not as lucky as you, Jean. I didn't have a cheating upperclassman to help me out."

Jean smirked up at Marco. "You volunteered remember?"

Marco raised an eyebrow, "Oh that's right." A whistle blew behind them. "Well, I guess then I don't have to _volunteer_ information about your pants." Marco turned on his heel and walked away, but not before shooting his own smirk at Jean. Which made the freckled guy seem almost devious.

Jean felt his cheeks heat for more than one reason. "Hey wait, what do you mean? What's wrong with my pants?"

Jean chased after Marco, following him back into the band hall for mass band practice.

And soon, faster than Jean wanted, the last days of band camp began trickling away as did the ending of summer vacation.

Despite every complaint he has, Jean really liked marching band. The people were alright, the music was fantastic (again, even if he was just playing the cymbals), and he could feel the excitement that was beginning to build up for the first game.

* * *

Gosh, that ending sounded like an essay to me for some reason. Bleh. Sorry about that horrible ending.

Lately, I've literally had next to zero amount of free time. I know I said I would have time, but life really doesn't work out the way you want it to, huh? I basically typed this up on my phone or tablet while I was walking to my classes. Lab, chem, and crew have my time right now. And I just realized I haven't updated anything in a month...it cannot have gone by that fast!

So I'm really sorry about my other fics guys. All of them are in the writing for the next chapter/part/update. I know I should have updated during spring break, but, again, no time. I've just been a busy bee. I also have a bad case of writer's block (can you tell?) but that may be becasue my head is going to explode due to acid/bases and selection processes.

Anyways, the main point of this chapter was to just express what Jean thought of band camp, and I didn't want it to be super long. These are all based off my own experience, and band camp wasn't always the greatest part of marching season, but I have fond memories of it. Haha, anyone else (where my fellow band nerds at)? And those pranks! Gosh, upperclassman suck! (Just so you know I never pulled them on freshman...I didn't stop them either though haha) Also, a little JeanMarco was thrown in early, but when you spend so much time with each other...well, yup. The next chapter should have more characters and such...but I'm gonna hold off on that until I have time and finish the others...

Anyways, thanks for reading through. I hope this piece didn't turn you off from the story. I hope you are all doing extremely well! Happy reading lovelies!


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